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It’s hard to write about my experiences of blockading the New Zealand Defence Industry Association (NZDIA) 2017 forum at Westpac Stadium in Wellington. I think it’s because I’m showing signs of grieving – I’m exhausted, I cry unexpectedly and it feels like I’m yearning for something.

But why would I be grieving?

My guess is I’m in the process of saying goodbye to the world-view that I once knew. The world in which police were there to protect me, a place where people didn’t really, surely, enjoy making money from dealing in weapons of mass destruction and full of people who didn’t mind taking an extra ten minutes to get to work if it meant supporting a peaceful protest.

It was an early start on Tuesday for us and our travelling buddies from ROCC and SOUL. The aim was to meet up with all the other protesters at 6.30am…

Pukaha – Mt Bruce is a 942 hectare, un-fenced wildlife project situated in the Wairarapa Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It claims great success in the recovery of re-introduced bird species like kiwi – but the dark truth is, that kiwi are dying in large numbers, and the decline is directly pointing to pesticides like the aerially spread 1080 poison, or their failure to kill targeted species. This clip investigates the claims and catastrophes that are Mt Bruce …

There have been a number of people in court situations where the magistrate/judge has asked “so what would you like to do?”.

This is a significant statement and offers several clues to your current situation, some you may have missed.

The bottom line is the magistrate/judge is giving you a big helping hand (at least a temporary one).

This statement is indicative of a missing step in your process or your ongoing actions in court. You may have even resolved the matter without knowing it eg through your process that shows agreement.

To be clear the magistrate cannot give you legal advice, but can make “teasing” statements/questions that might indicate the court is awaiting some key action from you in order to move forward or even close out a proceeding.

For example, if there is agreement via an administrative process or claim, yet the prosecution continues to argue and distract…

This has been one hell of a roller-coaster of an election season! I’m not sure I’ve ever felt such heady highs or at other times been plunged so low. For what it’s worth, these are my final thoughts (as posted in Kapiti Independent News):

I couldn’t watch last night’s leader’s debate. As the clock rolled around towards seven p.m. I started to feel sick with nerves, knowing I would have to sit through Mike Hosking cynically manipulating the discussion in National’s favour and Bill English perpetrating lies. From what I’ve read and heard since then, that’s exactly how it panned out.

With the most recent poll shifting the balance back towards National, I’m left wondering what has happened to the people of this country? It used to be we were known for generosity and a desire to see people treated with fairness and dignity (albeit not Maori, who are…

Many people are good at what they do, and they earn a very lucrative salary doing it ….
The more they have, the quicker (& higher) they rise up the ladder of success; and good on them – in many cases they deserve it.

BUT – this is where it becomes grossly unfair.

Whether skippering Team N.Z. in a boat race, or earning a gold medal (or two at the Olympics) it’s the PEOPLE OF N.Z. who pay to fund these people on the road to their success. A 17 year old golfer applied for quarter of a million bucks to pay for her coach’s fees…. she went on to win SEVEN FIGURES in prize money/bonus’s – I never heard her say “Oh, by the way, here’s that money I asked the people of N.Z. for, to start my life-style kick-start off – just thought I’d pay…

There’s an email doing the rounds about the government, Fletchers, the Grand Chancellor demolition. It basically alleges corruption. Today CERA sent out a response – I’ve asked if they are happy with me reproducing it here and they are. I’ve printed their response in full, below. The very short version is (my words now) – the email doing the rounds is a load of rubbish.

If you have any queries about it, sing out and I will send you the contact at CERA who has the ability to comment on their behalf.

Cheers!

Sue

CERA SAYS:

“You may in recent days have received a malicious email which makes a number of baseless assertions about the relationship between the government, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA), and Fletcher Building.

One of the assertions is that the government is the largest shareholder in Fletcher Building, and therefore stands to benefit from any…

Minister of Defence Mark Mitchell has become a Weapons Industry spokesperson this week. The Minister issued a statement on Friday advocating for private companies to cash in on the $20 billion being pumped into the military budget.

Apparently he sees his job as promoting war profiteering by private firms. He said ‘Defence represents huge opportunities’. We’d like to remind the minister that the opportunities in war are death, horror and human misery, not profitable business deals.

The Defence Industry is the arms trade – plain and simple. They profit from war. The National government thinks an economy based on endless wars and death is a great way to boost growth. We think a war economy is not only morally repugnant, but it is economic suicide as well.

At a time when there is a massive arms build up in the Pacific, and war talk from the US and North Korea…